Hand tool



PH 9, i946 F. J. cLEMENs l 2,398,209

HAND TOOL Filed March 2, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet. l

11.," "lill" F. J. CLEMENS 2,398,209

HAND TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1944 Patented Apr. 9, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE HAND TOOL Fred J. Clemens, Hartford, Conn. Application March 2, 1944, Serial No. 524,676

7 Claims.

This invention relates to hand tools, and more particularly to a tool of the plier type.

In the use of pliers and similar tools it is often desirable to provide a strong leverage action between the handles and the jaws in order to effect tight closing of the latter. While this is more or less true of any plier in order that it may grip the work tightly, it is particularly true of certain kinds of pliers, and of Wireor rod-cutting pliers, for example. Also, it is desirable in connection with certain forms of pliers to be able to lock the jaws in closed position in gripping contact with the work. This is desirable, for example, when the pliers are used as a wrench, where they may be locked in gripping position on a nut, and it is also true wherein they are to be used in connection with a rod or pipe, for example, so that they may be locked in gripping relation with a piece of work circular in cross section.

It is also desirable that this locking together of the jaws of the pliers may be accomplished in a simple and elective way, with no further manual operation than that required to close the jaws of the pliers upon the work or object between them, and it is also desirable that the pliers may be readily opened from their locked position merely by a separation of the plier handles.

'A further advantageous feature in hand tools of the present character is that of adjustability of the jaws, so that the closed position thereof may be adjusted to t and lock upon work which may vary in size, and to arrange the parts of the tool so that this adjustment may be readily and easily made, and be capable of adjustment through a relatively wide range.

One object of the invention is to provide a hand tool of the plier type, of novel form and construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hand tool having working or gripping jaws which may be locked in closed position upon the work by a movement of the handles in a direction to close the same.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hand tool such as pliers or the like which will have a relatively high leverage to effect the closing of the jaws, and the jaws of which may be readily and easily locked in closed position or opened from said locked or closed position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hand tool of the plier type, having jaws and cooperating handles to effect opening and closing movement of the jaws, the connections between the jaws themselves and between the jaws and handles being of novel form and construction,

so that the jaws when closed will be automatically locked in closed position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hand tool of the type described having means for effecting adjustment of the closed position of the jaws.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a hand tool embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the forward end portion of the tool, partly in section, on line 2-2 of Fig. 7

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a front view of the forward portion of the tool but showing the jaws in open position;

Fig. is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrow 'l on that gure;

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the opposite side of the tool, looking in the direction of the arrow 8 on Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a front elevational View of a tool of modified form;

Fig. 10 is a side view o f the parts shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 1l is a front elevational view of a further modified form of hand tool; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional View on line I2y-l2 of Fig. 11.

To illustrate one preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a hand tool comprising cooperating jaws II) and II. These jaws may be provided With any form of working surface desired. As shown they are provided with serrated portions I2 and I3 to engage a pipe or rod, and relatively straight portions I4 and I5 to engage a flat or polygonal object. It will be understood that the portions I4 and l5 may be roughened or serrated so as also to engage objects of circular shape if desired.

As shown more especially in Figs. 2, 4 and 7, the jaw II is provided with a bifurcated shank portion having spaced legs I6 and I l, and the jaw I0 is provided with a solid shank portion I8 somewhat reduced in width as compared to the width of the jaw, so that it will pass between the portions I and Il of the shank of the jaw II, thus arranging for the crossing of the jaw members between the working portions and the Shanks thereof.

The shank I8 of the jaw I0 assumes its natural size at a point I9, and below this point is bifurcated, as shown at 2U, to form two legs corresponding to the legs I6 and I1 of the shank of the jaw I I at this point.

Between the shank portions I6 and I1 and adjacent the lower ends thereof is rotatably mounted a block 2 I, and a similar block 22 is rotatably mounted between the bifurcated lower end portions 29 of the shank IB. These blocks are provided with threaded openings 23 and 24 having rightand left-hand threads, respectively, which openings are adapted to receive the complementally threaded end portions 25 and 26 of an adjusting screw having a head 21 thereon by which it may be manually manipulated. It will be obvious that with this construction the rear ends of the shank portions of the jaws I and II are pivotally connected through the adjusting screw, as these shank portions rock upon the blocks or nuts 2| and 22 secured to the screw. Thus the jaws in their opening and closing movements, effected by the handle members to be described herein after, will rock about the blocks 2I and 22 as pivots.

The jaws are adapted to be operated by handle members 30 and 3l, which members are provided at their forward ends with bifurcated portions 32 and 33 providing spaced side members 34 and 35 between which are received the shanks of the jaws I9 and II, as shown more particularly in Figs. 2, 3 and 5. Adjacent their forward ends the side members 34 and 35 are provided with inwardly extending projections 36 and 31, which are pivoted together by a pivot pin 38, thus providing for swinging movement of the handles about this point.

A pivot pin 39 is passed through the portions 34 of the handle 30, and through the shank portions IG and I1 of the jaw II, so as to pivot this jaw to the handle 30 at this point. Likewise, a pivot pin 49 is passed through the spaced side members 35 of the handle 3|, and through the shank portion I8 of the jaw I0 so as to provide a corresponding connection between the handle 3| and the jaw I0.

It will be apparent with this construction that, as the handles are opened and closed about the pivot point 38, the relative positions of the pivot pins 39 and 49 will be changed, thus moving the shanks of the jaws about their pivots on the blocks 2l and 22, As the pivot pins 39 and 40 are brought closer together by the opening of the handles (see Figs, 1 and 6), the Shanks of the jaw members will likewise be brought closer together, the latter swinging about the pivots 2I and 22, but as the jaws are crossed between their working ends and their pivots, this will effect an opening movement of the working portion of the jaws so that moving the handles from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 6 will effect the opening of the jaws.

It will be apparent that the point 38 at which the handles are pivoted together lies between the points 39 and 40 at which the jaw shanks are pivoted to the handles, and that the transversely or inwardly extending portions 36 and 31 of the jaws form a toggle the pivots of which tend to move into alignment as the jaws reach their closed position, thus giving increased leverage at the time of greatest resistance. For example. the point 33, as illustrated in Fig. 6, where the handles are in open position, lies below the points 39 and 40. and the jaws are in open position, as adjusted by the head or nut 21, as will be presently described. When, however, the handles are closed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the point 38 reaches and nally passes beyond or above the line joining the centers of the pivots 39 and 40. Thus the toggle passes slightly beyond its dead center position.

In this position of the parts the jaws are locked in closed position or gripping relation with the work between them, as shown, for example, in Fig. 2, where they are gripped upon the rod 42. It will be understood that the pivot point 38 passes only a slight distance beyond the dead center position, the distance being barely enough so that the jaws will be locked closed, and so that any pressure upon the jaws I0 and II in an opening direction would have a tendency to move the point 38 forwardly by bringing the points 39 and 40 closer together,

Movement of the point 3B in a forward direction, beyond that shown in Fig. 2, is prevented by means of a stop 43 threaded at 44 to the handle member 3I and engaging at its free end the handle member 30. Thus the jaws will be locked in gripping relation with the work therebetween, but at the same time they may be released by an opening movement of the handles which will again bring the pivot point 38 rearwardly between the pivot points 3S and 49 to the position shown in Fig. 6.

It is desirable to have the jaws adjustable with respect to the spacing of the working surfaces thereof when the tool is in closed position. This adjustment may be effected by turning the nut 21, which will tend to spread the rear ends of the shank portions of the jaws, moving the latter about the pivot points 39 and 40. That is, if the pivot points 39 and 40 remain fixed, the working surface of the jaws may be opened up bymoving outwardly the rear ends of the shank portions by means of the threaded members 25 and 23. Thus the jaws may be adjusted within relatively wide limits to lock upon work of various sizes.

In Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings I have shown a tool of somewhat modied form, the only change, however, being in the working surfaces of the jaws. In this instance the jaws IIIa and I0b are bifurcated at their forward ends, as shown at 5I, and between these bifurcated ends are pivoted at 52 gripping members 53 having contacting head portions 54. It will be noted that, as illustrated, the jaws of the tool do not in their movements maintain a parallel relationship. Therefore, while these jaws may be substantially parallel in some positions of adjustment, in other positions they will not be parallel. If, however, pivoted gripping members 53 are provided, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, these mayr swing slightly with respect to the jaws IIIBL and I0 so that their contacting surfaces will always be parallel. The gripping members 53 are prevented from swinging entirely out of position by engagement of the outer portions of these members with the rear portions' 55 of the bifurcations in the jaws. This slight change, in effect, transforms the pliers into parallel jaw pliers.

The modification shown in Figs. 11 and 12 is substantially like the tool shown in Figs. 1 to 8, with the exception that the jaws are provided with working surfaces of different form. In this instance the jaws are provided with forward working surfaces 55, which may be knurled or have any desired configuration for the work for which they are intended, and rearwardly thereof are provided with side cutters 51 and 58 designed to cut wires or small rods. The present tool Is very effective as a cutting plier, in view of the relatively great leverage developed between the handles and jaws.

It will be obvious that I have shown a hand tool of improved form, in which the connections between the jaws and handlesl and between the handles themselves, are such that a very eiectve leverage is produced, while at the same time the jaws may be easily locked in gripping relation with the work and easily released therefrom. In addition, the tool is substantially like that of the ordinary plier, with few additional parts, so that it is convenient to use and carry, and likewise inexpensive to manufacture.

While I have shown and described some preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hand tool comprising a pair of co-actng jaw members, a pair of handles one of which is pivotally connected to each of the jaws to effect opening and closing travel thereof, said handles being pivoted together adjacent their forward ends between the points of pivotal connection of the jaws and handles, said jaw members having rearwardly extending crossed shank portions, and means for pivoting said shank portions rearwardly of the pivotal connections between the jaws and handles.

2. A hand tool comprising a pair of co-acting jaw members, a pair of handles one of which is pivotally connected to each of the jaws to effect opening and closing travel thereof, said handles being pivoted together adjacent their forward ends between the points of pivotal connection of the jaws and handles, said jaw members having rearwardly extending crossed shank portions, and a member disposed rearwardly of the pivotal connection between the jaws and handles to which member the shank portions of the jaws are pivoted.

3. A hand tool comprising a pair of co-acting jaw members, a pair of handles one of which is pivotally connected to each of the jaws to effect opening and closing travel thereof, said handles ybeing pivoted together adjacent their forward ends between the points of pivotal connection of the jaws and handles, said jaw members having rearwardly extending crossed shank portions, a member disposed rearwardly of the pivotal connection between the jaws and handles to which member the shank portions of the jaws are pivoted, and means elective upon the rotation of said member to adjust the pivot points of the shanks thereon.

4. A hand tool comprising a pair of co-acting jaw members, a pair of handles one of which is pivotally connected to each of the jaws to eiect opening and closing travel thereof, said handles being pivoted together adjacent their forward ends between the points of pivotal connection of the jaws and handles, said jaw members having rearwardly extending crossed shank portions, a member disposed rearwardly of the pivotal connection between the jaws and handles to which member the shank portions of the jaws are pivoted, and means to vary the closed position of said jaw members.

5. A hand tool comprising a pair of co-acting jaw members, a pair of handles one of which is pivotally connected to each of the jaws to effect opening and closing travel thereof, said handles being pivoted together adjacent their forward ends between the points of pivotal connection of the jaws and handles, said jaw members having rearwardly extending crossed shank portions, a member disposed rearwardly of the pivotal connection between the jaws and handles to which member the shank portions of the jaws are pivoted, and means for adjusting the points of pivotal connection of said shanks with said member.

6. A hand tool comprising a pair of co-acting jaw members, a pair of handles one of which is pivotally connected to each of the jaws to effect opening and closing travel thereof, said handles being pivoted together adjacent their forward ends between the points of pivotal connection of the jaws and handles, said jaw members having rearwardly extending crossed shank portions, means to which said shanks are pivotally secured at points rearwardly of the crossed portions, and means for adjusting said last-named pivot points to vary the distance therebetween.

7. A hand tool of the plier type comprising a pair of co-acting jaws, a pair of cooperating handle members each pivoted to one of the jaws to effect movement thereof to open and closed positions, pivot means for said handles to form a toggle with said points of pivotal connection between said jaws and handles, means to limit the closing movement of the handles to lock the jaws in closed position, said jaws having crossed Shanks, means to which said Shanks are pivoted rearwardly of the crossed portions, and means for varying the distance between said last-named pivots to adjust the closed position of the jaws.

FRED J. CLEMENS.v 

